I think consistently referring to counter-protestors as "zionists" is probably misleading; I suspect that while there may be many genuine zionists doing violence to pro-Palestine protestors, there are also probably a bunch of fascists mixed in there who are very much not "zionists" in the traditional sense (other than perhaps that Israel's continued existence provides a potential avenue to ethnically cleanse the US of Jews).
Using that broad brush actually plays into the fascists' agenda.
Rather than "zionists", better terms for this mixed group of allies-of-convenience might be "violent reactionaries", "pro-genocide", "anti-human rights", etc.
They're all terrible people, but in markedly different ways and I think we should recognize that (and also how they are similar as well).
It's a difficult argument to make, in the same way it's hard to argue against calling all anti-trans activists "TERFs" despite the fact that many (most?) of them are right-wing agitators and not in any way "radical" or "feminist".
But I would like to avoid muddling terminology around "zionist" because there are a lot of people who aren't actually zionists being called "zionist" because they are Jewish or express sadness over the suffering of Israeli citizens while still supporting Palestine.
It is true that many Jewish zionists dishonestly equate anti-zionism with anti-Semitism.
However, this only works because Nazis, the KKK, and other anti-Semites have been using "zionist" as a dog whistle for "Jew" for literally longer than I have been alive (I am in my 40s).
This is why anti-zionist Jews are tetchy about non-Jews calling all violent counter-protestors (many of whom are anti-Semite fascists themselves) "zionists".
Like, if you know for sure that the folks attacking the protestors are Jewish supporters of Israel (which many probably are), then it's fine to call them "Zionist Jews".
And if they are Evangelicals who support Israel but only so all of the Jews can be killed in the Apocalypse, you can call them "Christian Zionists".
If they're nazis, say that.
But as an older, anti-zionist Jew, I still hear "zionists" coming from non-Jews as a thinly-veiled slur.
@tess It's the best term I've ever heard that includes Christian Dominionists, explicit white supremacists, and everyone else supporting the genocidal actions of the Israeli state.
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